In a new interview with Josh Horowitz, Adrien Brody talked about the Joker role and Heath Ledger’s casting.
“Oh no, I wasn’t close. It was a role that I felt very suited to do,” the actor revealed. “Heath did such a remarkable job in that movie. It was indelible. Such beautiful work. Any actor who has a degree of edge would like to delve into a character like that, especially with a filmmaker like Christopher Nolan who brought such a profound vision.”
Brody added, “Nobody was doing that at the time. There was nothing like that. Christopher Nolan’s work and what he gave actors in that was such a revelation. It was mind-blowing to see. That would have been such a dream role and I’m sure it was for Heath.”
Heath Ledger passed away before ‘The Dark Knight’ was released, so he never saw how people reacted to his portrayal of the Joker, which earned him an Oscar. Although Ledger’s performance is now iconic, Nolan considered other actors for the role, including Brody.
Many actors, like Paul Bettany, Willem Dafoe, Sam Rockwell, and Robin Williams, previously shared that they were almost cast as the Joker. While speaking with THR, Dafoe said, “[Screenwriter Sam] Hamm said something about how physically I would be perfect for the part, but they never offered it to me.”
In a 2022 interview with GQ, Dafoe also shared his idea for a new Joker movie. The actor explained, “There is something interesting about, like, if there was a Joker imposter. So it would be possible to have not duelling Jokers but someone that [claims] to be the Joker that isn’t the Joker.”
He continued, “And that kind of opens up the possibility of an interesting story, particularly if you had Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker,’ and then you had someone who was either imitating or riffing off what he did. I fantasised about that. But other than that I am not talking to anybody [about it], you’re the first one.”
‘The Dark Knight’ is often called the best comic book movie ever, via MovieWeb. It got great reviews when it came out in 2008 and is one of Nolan’s most loved films, along with ‘Interstellar.’ It’s currently ranked third on IMDb’s list of the greatest movies of all time, just behind ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Shawshank Redemption.’
